Lab Day
by Empty Promise
Summary: What does a witch in R&D do all day? And what happens when a lonely pilot wants to see that question answered?


_... Well work on the advanced engine is coming along,it will still be some time before a weapons test of proper standards can be readied, until then, my thoughts on the matter, are that the funding being put towards this project are of immense use to the Lufftwaffe, we are still finding issues with the magic levels the Jet drains from it's users, thus far, testing in these matters, are still underway, and will have to be conducted before a live fire trial can take place._

 _Lt. Peter Von Luck, Lufftwaffe R &D department, Rosario Airbase, Neun Karlsland_

Finishing his letter, Peter von Luck pushed his glasses back onto his nose, he placed his report in an envelope, stamping it with a blood red **Express, Government** seal, he stood up, grasping his hands in fists to try and decramp them, and took the letter out the door of his small office.

These reports bored him, but it was his duty to write them to command on any progress Ursula made on her jet striker project, and like it or not, duty came before pleasure. Placing it in the "Out Going" mail slot on the wall, he decided to inquire what his "CO" was up to. Ursula and himself were close, but she also outranked him, leading to a few alkward moments between themselves during official duties, and in private.

He chuckled at the memory of their first night in the same room, mind you, they had separate quarters, but the window to Ursula's had a loose screw in it's frame anyway, so he was merely testing it, he'd mention it to the base repair staff...eventually.

Walking outside, he passed the air stripe with it's wafing fumes of oil, a Ju-52 cargo plane with a coat of Lufftwaffe grey sat idle, it's crew unloading crates, and a pair of Focke-Wulfs-190 fighters sat side by side across from it, ready to sortie at a moments notice if needed. Stopping at a large domed building, he took his ID badge from his pocket, handing it to the "Chaindog" _Feldgendarmerie_ military policemen outside the entrance with his military police gorget wrapped around his neck, MP-34 strapped to his side and luftwaffe blue _Stahlhelm_ on his head.

"Morning Fredhelm" he said happily. The large man with just a bit of gut smiled, missing a single tooth he nodded "Same to you Peter" as he checked his card, a process he'd done numerous times, but regulation demanded was done to ANYONE wishing to enter the lab complex.  
"How are the wife and kids"? he asked the large man, not looking up from his card, he smiled "They are fine, the wife is enjoying base life well enough, although the noise keeps her awake and both Adalard and Anni seem to find trouble often enough". One perk of a base like Rosario, was most personel were aloud to have their famlies live on base, it did wonders for moral and productivity.

Didn't we all as children"? he asked, making the man laugh, his gut like a bowl of jelly, shaking heartly.

Peter questioned if a lieutenant (Even a lowly one such as himself) was allowed such a casual conversation with an NCO, but he assumed they were friends before soldiers, at least in such a calm exchange like this.

"Your clear" he said kurtly, handing his badge back, he stuck it in his back pocket, and thanked him, going through the double doors inside. The clean white walls gave the interior a look of locational decorum, and as his leather soled boots clicked and clocked against the floor, he could feel an aura of...calmness come over him, the controlled space inside he'd been told, was meant to relax those working there.

He had to agree it was effective.

He passed men and women in lab regalia, but not finding the one he was looking for. He cursed the uniformity of the building, if not for the signs over ever lab chamber door, one could get lost very easily.

"...Cold Weather Combat Gear, no...Battlefield Aid, no..." he said to himself, reading of the names printed above each door, until he reached the one he was looking for, "Advanced Combat Equipment"

Ursula often found a break from her jet research in working on another project and in a different department, would help her from getting over worked on anyone project, and today was one of her "break" days. Entering, he could see her, lab coat and blonde bob, back to him, working over a table, he smiled quietly stepping inside the large space of the lab, his actions slowed, he snuck up behind her, still hard at work, one hand turning a wrench, the other russling through a box of screws on the table.

Swiftly, he placed his chin on her shoulder, resting it there with a smile.

With warmth, he spoke "Hi" but was not rewarded for her efforts as she turned her head and smiled, the light reflecting off her glasses "Took you long enough, Erica could have done that in half the time" she reminded him, her sister was a prankster of no limit, she'd learned every trick in the book, and a few unprinted too. He smiled sighing "Yes yes, i'll never be quite the joker she was, toche. So what are you working on today? Can i be of any help"? he inquired.

She nodded "Some Coffee would be rather nice" she cocked her head to the brewing station on the other side of the room.

"Of course, i'll have it ready in a jiffy". He walked over and began the process of making a pot. She spoke as he did so "We're working on a process to give our existing infantry weapons an edge, and this little device..." She patted a silver sliver lining the action and bolt of an MG-42 sitting on the table, a massive box of ammo hooked to it's side "...Is going to do just that. We call it the "Maxim Device", it increases the power of a weapons bolt, and on a weapon like this, it gives it a massive upgrade in it's rate of fire".

"Maxim Device"?

She smiled answering his question "yes, after the inventor of the first machine gun, i felt it a...fitting title." He smirked at this, and the many of jokes she'd made in the past, she had a dry wit like no other it was one of the reasons he loved her so much. He let himself gaze downward at her bare legs poking from out of her lab coat, slender and pale as the moon.

Not only the wit of a fox, but the looks of one to match.

The slight hiss of the coffee pot broke his trance, shaking his head, he picked the pot and a two mugs up, the latter in one hand, and place them down on her work bench, she nodded with a smile, and poured herself a cup, and Peter one too. He smiled back at her as she took a sip, both hands n the mug, her eyes widening as the warm liquid flowed down her throat.

His own cup was hot, with just a bit of sugar and cream to keep it from being bitter, he'd seen Ursula place nothing in her cup, how she could stomach such a rough brew was beyond him.

" _Danke_ , i needed that" His smile quickly widened hearing her thanks. "So...when's this do-dad gonna to be ready"?

Placing her cup down she smirked "It should be ready...now". He put his own cup down so fast, a small tidal wave of brown liquid formed splashing off the metal workbench. "Can i...perhaps test it"? He may have been a pilot, but nothing was more fun then firing a machine gun, turning a wooden board to splinters with the pull of a trigger was a power trip better then any a drug might offer.

"I don't see why not, i need it tested anyway, and i expect you'll be up to the task" Ursula said, back turned picking up the weapon, the massive MG-42 looking quite large in her hands, but her magic enhanced strength made if an effortless act. Resting the stock on her shoulder, like a rifle, she picked up a box of 7.92×57mm ammunition in her other, again, with no effort required. Walking to the other end of the large room, a firing range had been set up, a few targets laying against a wall of grey metal that looked quite heavy. "Reinforced" Ursula said answering his unspoken question.

He nodded as she set up the weapon, the bipod set up on the table, clampt into place on a small round swiveled section, meant to allow easy movement of the weapon during testing. Placing the belt into it, she waved him to it "It's ready, but it's still a prototype, so it make have some kinks that need to be worked out" He nodded again, placing his ear pugs in, Ursula doing the same, and stepping aside, clipboard in hand, ready to takes notes during the test.

He looked at her, hunched over the weapon, and she gave a thumbs up, looking down range, he selected his first group of targets, three plywood cutouts shaped like simple Neuroi, and fired a burst, cutting two of the three in half, the last being riddled with bullets, but still standing. The rush was great for him, but Ursula spoke up "Try firing for longer, it's made to have a greater rate of fire"

He nodded with vigor, pressing into the trigger, and hearing the "Kasier's Buzzsaw" roar again, he turned it, cutting a path through several targets, putting dozens of bullets into each in only a few seconds. The rate of fire was increased, but it also made it hard to keep her on target, even with the bipod down, the weapon's muzzle shook greatly.

Ursula jotted down a note on her paper, and Peter stop firing, "It's a lot harder to keep on target, and the barrel in already overheating" he pointed out the red hot barrel. Ursula took these comments down, as notes. "Swap out for a new barrel, i want to see how long it can fire before it overheats beyond use.

Peter frowned. "Is that a good idea, it's a test model after all"

"Don't worry, you'll be in no danger" as she spoke, she pulled down a blast shield from overhead in front of him, a notch in the glass allowed the gun to be fired through it. It looked like safety had been taken into account.

"Well...alright then" placing both hands back on the weapon, now with a '"fresh" barrel, he fired again, now just shooting straight at the wall, the stream of bullets so fast he could not feel the kick of a single one leaving the weapon, the stock was just pushed into his shoulder again and again, like a jack hammer.

The barrel grew red, and the gun seemed to increase rate of fire as his finger began to feel numb on the trigger.

"Maybe i should-" he started to speak, but the gun's clamp, seemed to break from the rapid movement of it's firing, and sent him flying back to the ground on his ass, the weapon kept spinning and firing the muzzle lodging itself in the firing socket again as it stopped firing...the barrel facing out of it towards the inside of the lab.

Ursula "Oh my...that could have gone badly, luckliy it jammed when it did"

Peter hissed "Please don't jinx this-" The gun came to life again, spitting bullets in an arc across the room, the recoil of the firing sending it's sights pin balling back and forth, from one side of the room to the other. Jumping to his feet, Peter ran towards her, jumping and tackling her to the floor, shouting for her to stay down as streams of bullets passed overhead, both lying on their stomachs to avoid the danger.

" _Scheisse_ " I thought something like this might happen Ursula sighed. Peter looked at her shocked 'WHAT? AND YOU LET ME FIRING THAT THING ANWAY"!

"I didn't think _this_ wold happen, but i assumed a ballistics accident might occur, hence the bulletproof desks and walls i had installed" It was then he noticed not one of the gunmetal grey lab desks had taken damage from bullets, he watched on as rounds ricochet off throwing itself against the ceiling, but that lead to them bouncing off any surface like a swarm of angry hornets, still, the desk seemed their best option. The nearest one seemed big enough for them to both fit under, but it was at the least, eight feet away. Worse, many of the rounds had begun bouncing off the solid metal walls, making an unpredictable gantlet, but they didn't have much of choice.

"If we crawl, we can make" he observed, the distance wasn't far, but the bullets streaming overhead made the small trek rather more dangerous then any other day. Waiting for a "lull" in the firing, when the weapons barrel was pointed to the other side of the room, Peter shouted "Go"! and both scrambled on their knees to the safety of the desk.

With a hiss and wizz, Peter let out a scream of pain, a bullet skimming his foot, cutting into the top of his boot and drawing blood. he stopped and turned over on this back like a turtle, clutching his boot, a small amount of blood trickling from the hole the round has caused through his fingers, now slick with crimson. Ursula grabbed his shoulders, and with a mighty burst of strength, slid him against the metal side of the desk, with a _thud_.

Ursula rolled on her stomach over to him, one bullet scrapping the floor beside her head, she pushed her lover under the desk, to safety and moved besides him. He looked up at her, nursing his wound with one of her clean white gloves as a makeshift tourniquet, a small smile with eyes of sadness gazing up at her " _Danke"_ before noticing a wound on her shoulder, a bloody tear in her lab coat's sleeve, despite the pain, he moved up and gripped her arm "Your hurt"! and was about to try and find something to wrap it with, as she tore a stripe from her own coat, and wrapped it around the wound, wincing as she tied it tight.

"What? Think i can't take care of myself"? she asked, allowing a small smile to form across her face, an almost ironic look with the clanging of bullets all around them. As if by fate, as she smiled, the gun stopped with a loud _Click_ , seconds latter, followed by the red hot barrel drooping to the floor, like something out of a cartoon.

Both sighed with ease as the last few rounds tired themselves out and all became safe again. The silence was not broken for several minutes, only the deep breathing of both. But, it was borken by words at last "Perhaps...we should see about getting these wounds treated"? Ursula asked, head lying on Peter's shoulder.

"Yes"he said leaning against her"Maybe we should" he trailed off with a sigh, to tried to be concerned with his wounds, from the corner of his eye, he saw Ursula smile, he wondered what could be so funny. She noticed his look of utter confusion and smiled wider "Its merely...i realize that you don't know...this was my break...i didn't want to stop working so..."

He understood "...So you tried a hand at something new? And we almost died...when we could have been relaxing"?

She nodded.

He laughed, at first, a little, then, rising, to a mighty chuckle, she joined him giggling at the thought, despite it all, it was quite funny. Relaxing he spoke again "Come on, lets get these wounds checked out, maybe we can get the rest of the day off out of it..." She looked at him, head quirked at an angle "And do what"?

He laughed again "Anything you want...other then work" Standing up, she pulled him from out under the desk, and supported him to the infirmary...


End file.
